Innovation moving EAST

August 6, 2010

After reading an article on “3D Express Coach” (also called a “three-dimensional fast bus”) that will allow cars less than 2 meters high to travel underneath the upper level carrying passengers at Huffington post today I am enough motivated to think and write on this good aspect of the moving East.

Few years ago as a kid I always saw my elders (parents, relatives, friends) all running in the race to exist. Majority of the population in India was a part of the survival game only. I belong to the City Beautiful, Chandigarh in India where bicycles and scooters used to rule the road while cars were only reserved for the rich/government and the government drivers. As most of the population was all trying to make both ends meet and finally may have some small house to call of their own; only rare could think of innovation. But today things have totally changed! With the changes has come lot of good and long lasting developments.

A year ago I was reading an article in one of the famous journal (I don’t remember the name) which published that in next 50 years the innovation ground will slowly and slowly move to the East to countries like India and China. These countries will become the breeding ground of new breathtaking inventions. Being a part of the economic and social growth of these countries I very well understood why the author (he was some American economist) was saying this. The economic growth that these countries have seen in last few years because of the offshoring industry is mammoth. The economic growth has contributed a lots of positive to social, infrastructure and mental growth too. All this is leading to more on entrepreneur and innovation mindset development.

India is changing, I noted.

Pradeep Gupta, CEO of Cybermedia and president of TiE Delhi, concurs: “I have been talking on entrepreneurship at various colleges for the last two decades. I always ask a question: How many of you want to be entrepreneurs?” he says. “Earlier, maybe 5% [of] hands went up; today a quarter of the class raises their hands.”

Capital has become more accessible and with the advent of internet the ways to implement ideas has really become simpler. Finding a funding has really become easier. I remember how my friend was able to get a funding of 5 crore (.5 billion USD) for one of our projects in India about 5 years ago in approx 30 days. Companies and Individuals are becoming wealthier. More and more individuals are coming out of survival mode into expansion mode. Now the thought process is on how to participate in the expansion rather than sitting on the corners and enjoying the mediocre life.

“Necessity is the mother of all inventions”: Population problem is the biggest problem in these countries and also it is the biggest advantage. Because of the stress on resources everyone is being forced to think differently. Think in a way how the life can be improved using the same set of resources.